The Texas 83rd Session: Progress or More Political Theater?

The gavel goes down Tuesday and with it, the 83rd session of the Texas Legislature begins. The three biggest issues, in my mind, are education, water, and healthcare. I’m hoping that representatives will deal with those first. BUT…If the 83rd session is anything like the 82nd, lawmakers will begin with emergency legislation that’s anything but an emergency. The legitimate issues come later.

Since Governor Perry is eyeing a reelection in 2014 and perhaps, a Presidential run in 2016, he will insist on emphasizing those issues that will inflame and excite his easily disturbed political base and garner the most publicity in the media. I’d wager a bet that his first priority will be to drug-test those who receive public assistance and unemployment benefits. Next, I think he will grandstand with more abortion restrictions and then to cap off his chest-beating and heavy breathing, he’ll champion himself as the quintessential Texas trailboss in his vehement opposition to the federal health care law.

Texas would be better off if the Legislature would merely allow him to shoot a coyote or a rattlesnake on the floor of the Capitol on the very first day of the 83rd session. We could get the Governor’s macho theatrics out of the way and get to the meatier issues that need to be addressed.

Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, in all probability, will follow the lead of the Governor, since he is still smarting from his defeat to Ted Cruz. He’s up for reelection soon and he will want to appear “conservative enough” to be reelected.

Of course, valuable time will be wasted with David Simpson’s challenge to Joe Straus’ position as House speaker.

Water should be first; without it, nothing else can proceed. Would they actually dare to take $1 billion from the state's rainy day fund to start an infrastructure bank for water projects? Will West Texas lose its control over water that’s vital to the agricultural economy?

Education: Will they restore the $5.4 billion in cuts to public education? Will all their efforts be stymied by the result of the school funding trial which won’t conclude until after the Legislature adjourns? And what will result in the voucher scheme? If they’ve done their research by looking at the mistakes and problems of Louisiana, Florida, and Ohio, they will think twice about implementing “school choice”. Perhaps, they need to reflect on their prior efforts in 2006?

Whatever you believe about educational vouchers, “school choice” is nothing more than a way to privatize education, the last public institution that hasn’t been strip mined by educational corporateurs. Coincidentally, the EC’s are the most generous campaign contributors to the hard-line GOP members of the Texas Legislature.

Healthcare: There’s no doubt the Legislature will offer some obscure “fix-no-fix-wink-wink-in-name-only” solution to healthcare. How can Texas lawmakers sleep at night knowing they are impacting people’s life and death? By refusing to expand Medicaid, lawmakers become a statewide death panel. By assigning a death sentence to the poor and disenfranchised of their own state, they have reached a new moral depth.

They don’t mind giving 51 cents of every dollar for economic development or eliminating the business tax so their contributors can thrive. Just because they refuse to fund healthcare doesn’t mean the uninsured will cease to overwhelm the emergency rooms, overextending county healthcare. It means that local taxpayers will foot the bill for the uninsured in the future, so that Governor Perry can claim he’s the standard bearer against the big bad bogeyman in Washington.

Being Governor Perry is really expensive for Texas citizens.

The 83rd will be the litmus test for all elected officials; do they care about the future of Texas or do they care more about their personal political future? For the leaders at the top, I’m afraid it will be the latter; more evidence that they don’t care about you. For pragmatic individuals, 140 days seem insufficient to deal with Texas’ challenges, but given the character and selfishness of our leaders, perhaps it’s too many.

Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org

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My family and I have had to sacrifice to make ends meet over the last few years. My taxes haven't gone down, everything costs more and my income has decreased. Yet , I adjusted my lifestyle and budget to compensate for this shortfall. Why can't educators do the same thing along with the many other federal, state and local bureaucracies?

Why is your sacred cow of education ,more important than my financial situation?

I have told you in so many ways so many times that I think you are an idiot.

It is not a question of one category of worker's salary being any more important than another's. Comparing apples to oranges is not logical. It does not make sense, and, therefore, I am not surprised that you piped up.

I don't have a boss, if I don't get up and work- I don't make any money. I consider myself the boss of government employees, because I pay taxes, and they get paid by taxes . My property taxes haven't been reduced and I have to deal with ever increasing regulatory costs.

Teacher's salaries are appropriate. In Lubbock a starting teacher makes close to $40,000 a year for a nine month contract. Do you know what you make with a bachelors in biology, or business administration in Lubbock, TX? $28,000. While the earning potential is rather limited for a teacher (after 10 years you can't make double), the pay is actually not bad. If you want to make $60,000 a year, go get an engineering degree instead of an education degree. The great thing about our country is that you have the freedom to choose what you want to be. You can look at all the information available (work schedule, earning potential, benefits) and make an educated decision. However, if you make the decision and then aren't happy with it, that's not anyone's fault but your own. Next time anyone thinks education is underfunded, look at the percent of your property taxes that go towards education. It will make you sick.

I'd like to see the "property tax" eliminated in Texas.The idea of a "property tax", is absurd,and was formulated by Karl Marx and his pals. The "property tax" ensures that you never actually own your property.Additionally, it takes a very high toll upon seniors, who struggle with the very silly progressive income tax, which is also pulled from Karl Marx's book of class warfare.

Texas needs to eliminate the property tax in favor of a higher consumption based sales tax,in order to fund education and municipal needs.

I'd like to see Texas eliminate their current taxation system and instead, adopt a straight consumption tax model in line with the Fair Tax.